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A short story of Forgotten Picinc
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THE GHOST OF A FORGOTTEN PICNIC
Biju Pattaniak park has a special place in my heart.. This was the place of my first school picnic..
way back when I was in class 4. I don’t remember much of my picnic.. Just some flashes… Flashes of
mirth and merriment; familiar faces of friends… the overjoyed expressions of my friends swaying on the
swings in the park.. the pleased looks of my teachers. One in particular, Mr Swoorup Rout… It’s weird
that I remember him and none of my other teachers from the trip… Maybe it was because he had
entertained us by juggling 4 apples at
the same time. We were awed by it
then. Well to be honest I don’t
remember much of the park, except
that it was vast and one could easily get
lost in it (especially short perky class 4
guys). Our teachers had made us hold
the arm of another student so that we
won’t get lost.. My joy knew no bounds
when I was partnered with Mahesh, my
best friend (What? I was 8 years old
then ).
The first impression which you get as you enter the park is greenery. It had great many trees
planted in artistically. There was this great bridge over a water pond where we, that is all students of
class 4 C, had looked at, with wonder and amazement, the colorful fishes those were swimming.
(I remember one of us guys had spit in the pond… I don’t
remember who and don’t you dare point yourfinger at me) The
narrow paths within the park were lined with the most beautiful
plants with exotic flowers,.. you know the ones you don’t find in
your home garden…and man.. they were a sight to be see.
Dahlias as big as our tiffin boxes, roses in the deepest color of
red, Goldilocks… beautiful. I remember the pathway was covered
with the yellow flowers of the Gumohar tree. It felt heaven to us,
walking arm in arm through the golden pathway taking in the
beautiful sights in front of us (Well we were 8 and easily satisfied
).
When we had arrived at the children section of the park,
all of us went berserk. We
broke of the arm chains and
raced each other to the
nearest swing, or he tallest rockers, or the fastest spinners. I had a
special love for the slides. Mahesh and I had raced off to the slides.
We had slided upon them in enjoyment and merriment for the
whole afternoon. I miss the days when sliding down a 30 inclined
plane could give me such joy and contentment. The whooshing
sound of the wind as I slided down was enough to feel the happiest
guy in the world. Then we had our lunch which the teachers had
prepared for us. We felt like Gods with teachers making food for us.
I don’t remember how it had tasted. We thought the teachers knew
everything, had answers to our every questions.. so obviously no
one doubted their cooking skills…
And then we had returned in the school bus. It
had been heartbreaking for most of us. Never earlier
had we the chance to spend a whole day with our
school friends outside the classrooms. Thus in short as
I said this park had a very special place In my heart.. So
that day, when the short perky guy of class 4-C, now all
grown up, with a camera in his hand entered the park
after 13 years.. a sense of deep nostalgia washed over
him. Yes… the nostalgia washed over me. As I had
recalled earlier the park was huge.. Statistics say its
over 100 acres of land…. Well I don’t know.. it looked as big to me today as it had felt 13 years ago. It
broke my heart when I saw that there were almost no people In the park.. The park, being located in
one of the remote places in Cuttack saw very few visitors. But still it was disheartening to actually
perceive the lack of visitors. The park today isn’t being maintained that well… the narrow pathway has
become still narrower due to the overgrowth of grass and weed along its edges. There were no more
exotic flowers lining the pathway. The park looked lonely… except for few gardners and the watchman
of the park. The melancholy was overwhelming… Not a sound. I could almost see the ghost of my past..
the short guy from class 4-C leaning over the bridge looking at the exotic fishes on the water (Looking,
looking… not spiting! ). The bridge today presented a sorry sight. Its railing had broken.. and the water
had dried up. There were no fishes; only few shrubs that sprouted from the base of the still moist
fountain. It was a sad sight indeed. I looked around. I had to find the children’s playground in the park. It
was a happy memory I thought would have still existed. I searched the big park and at last I found it.. the
roller coasters, the sea-saw, the swings, all presented an abandoned look.. they had all rusted over years
of neglect and lack of use. The grass had grown ferociously over the long years and almost reached my
ankles.
I remembered… My slide… The slide upon
which Mahesh and I had played. I combed the
playground but couldn’t find it.. Maybe it was
lost… lost forever.. Finally when I was returning
I caught a glimpse of something yellow and
green. I stopped in my tracks. I felt as if a deep
memory had been stirred and looked back
frantically. And I saw it. The slide… the slide I
had loved. I could almost see the 8 year old me
swishing down on the slide. I was over the
moon. I could barely see the top of the slide. It
was almost invisible, the grasses that surrounded the slide were taller than me. It was as if it had been
reclaimed by the nature. I decided… I had to go take a closer look. I deviated from the narrow path and
struggled through the thick bushes and grass.. I had to use my tripod to cut my way through the grasses
and thorny bushes synonymous to the travellers who to cut their way through the thick Amazon forest
to make their path (Well I may have overdone the comparison a bit). The grass was taller than me and I
had an unpleasant sensation that there was something lurking within those bushes just beyond my
sight. I panicked a bit when I lost sight of the slide. I was completely surrounded by bushes with no
sense of direction. Still I waded through the bushes going in the general direction I thought was correct.
After 15 minutes of frantic effort and numerous cuts and bruises sustained from the thorns within the
bushes, I finally reached the slide. Only its top was visible.. I placed my tripod among the bushes and sat
down beside the slide… looking at it… revering it… marveling it… cherishing it. I looked at the rusted
stairs that took the children to the top… the intermediate rest piece where the children sat dawn before
letting go of all fears and apprehensions and slid down laughing and giggling with joy… A smile crossed
my lips… Finally I was sitting beside my friend. I clicked few shots standing awkwardly among the
bushes…
It was getting late and I had to leave. When I was
nearing the exit, I saw a family pull up at the park’s
entrance. Father, mother, son and daughter. I smiled as I
saw the look on the small boys face when he saw the
park. The look of joy… pure untouched joy. He was
maybe 8-9 years old.. Maybe reading in class 4 - C of his
school… The boy and the girl were dragging the
bemused parents through the entrance of the park. I felt
happy. As I started my bike to leave I think I saw the
boy… the boy from class 4-C waving at me… and I waved
back…
Denouement
Biju Pattaniak Park is located at Bidanasi, Cuttack. It is five kilometers from the Naraj Barrage, which is
also the starting point of my city. Here Mahanadi, the sixth largest river in India, splits into its tributary
Kathjodi forming the delta in which I live… Cuttack…
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